1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vanity mirror attached to a sun visor for automotive vehicles, and more particularly to a vanity mirror having a simple construction and an improved reliance in operation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, an automotive vehicle is provided with sun visors mounted in the interior of the vehicle in front of the driver's and passenger's seats, respectively. Each of the sun visors is hingably coupled to a hinge bar hingably mounted to a body of the vehicle in order to shield the eyes of the driver or passenger from the rays of the sun incident to the interior of the vehicle, thereby preventing him from being blinded by the sun light. In addition to such a main function for shielding the driver or passenger from the rays of the sun, many of sun visors have additional functions, for example, a function for allowing the passenger to conveniently view his face image reflected by a mirror attached to the rear surface of the sun visor in the interior of the vehicle. Such a mirror, which is attached to the rear surface of the sun visor, is called a "vanity mirror".
However, it is impossible to normally use such a vanity mirror in cloudy weather or at night because the image reflected by the vanity mirror is dark. In order to solve this problem, the vanity mirror is generally provided with a lamp at one side thereof. Typically, a cover is also provided to cover the vanity mirror along with the lamp. The cover is hingably mounted to the sun visor. Such a cover serves to protect the passenger from broken pieces of the vanity mirror and lamp which may shatter when an accident occurs. Generally, the cover also functions as a switching actuator for switching on and off the lamp.
These vanity mirror, lamp, and cover are assembled together into a single assembly which is mounted to the rear surface of the sun visor.
An example of a conventional vanity mirror is illustrated in FIG. 13. As shown in FIG. 13, the vanity mirror includes a mirror body 201 having two openings 202 and 203 with different sizes. A mirror 204 is fitted in the larger opening, namely, the opening 202. A double-sided adhesive tape 205 is attached to the rear surface of the mirror 204. In the smaller opening 203, a lamp is mounted to the mirror body 201. The lamp includes a lamp body 210 fitted in the smaller opening 203, an electric bulb 207 mounted to the lamp body 210 by means of a mounting bracket 206, a lens 208 mounted to a front end of the lamp body 210 in front of the electric bulb 207, and a switch 209 mounted to an upper end of the lamp body 210. A rear cover 211 is mounted to the rear end of the mirror body 201. A front cover 212 is also mounted to the front end of the mirror body 201 at opposite sides of its upper end by means of a pair of pins 213 in such a fashion that it can hinge about the pins 213 between an opened position and a closed position. The front cover 212 is resiliently supported by a pair of plate springs 214 disposed at opposite lateral ends of the mirror body 201 so that it can be maintained in a completely opened or closed state. The front cover 212 is configured to depress the switch 209 at its opened position, thereby turning on the electric bulb 207. The vanity mirror having the above mentioned assembly is mounted to the rear surface of a sun visor.
When the user turns the sun visor downwardly to expose the rear surface of the sun visor, the vanity mirror is accessible. In this state, opening the cover 212 causes the electric bulb 207 to be turned on. Even in the dark interior of the vehicle, the user can clearly view his face image reflected by the mirror 204 by virtue of the light emitted from the electric bulb 207.
Meanwhile, it is desirable for the vanity mirror to have a thin, simple, and light construction, taking into consideration the fact that the vanity mirror is mounted to a planar sun visor. It is also important for the vanity mirror to be stably maintained at its opened state in order to prevent the ON state of the switch achieved in accordance with the opened state of the vanity mirror from being unintentionally released, that is, to maintain the ON state of the electric bulb.
However, the above mentioned conventional vanity mirror has a thick and heavy construction due to a complexity in construction caused by an increased number of constituting elements. For example, the lamp body 210 including the electric bulb 207 is separate from the mirror body 210. The rear cover 211 is also mounted to the rear surface of the mirror body 201. In addition to such a thick and heavy construction, the conventional vanity mirror has various drawbacks. That is, the mounted state of the plate springs 214, which are fitted in holes formed at the rear surface of the mirror body 201 near opposite lateral ends of the mirror body 201, is unstable. For this reason, the plate springs 214 may be easily separated from their mounted positions, thereby causing the cover 212 to be unstable in its opened state. This results in a problem in that the electric bulb 207 may be unintentionally turned off during its use. The bracket 206 serves not only to hold the electric bulb 207, but also as an electric line for supplying current to the electric bulb 207. For this reason, the bracket 206 has a complicated construction. Such a complicated construction of the bracket 206 results in a complexity in the inner construction of the lamp body 210 for providing a mounting area for the bracket 206. As a result, there is a difficulty in the manufacture of the lamp body 210.